Roller bearing



Patented ar. 6, i223.

OSCAR RAGNAR WIKANDER, OF GLEN RIDGE, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR T TE SKAYEF BALL BEARING COMPANY, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, A COR- PORATION OF CONNECTICUT.

. ROLLER BEARING.

Application filed Ilecember 28, 1921. Serial No. 525,330.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, OSCAR R. WIKANDER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Glen Ridge, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in A'Roller Bearings, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing.

This invention relates to anti-friction roller bearings, and has for an object to provide a double row roller bearing capable ofv carrying heavy radial loads and in addition thrust load in either direction and in le which bearing there is permitted a certain amount of self-aligning movement or tilting of one part relatively to the other. This self-alignment varies in extent from a bearing in which the inner ring and the rollers carried thereby may be tilted so as to bring the rollers entirely outside the outer ring at opposite sides thereof, orone in which the tilting is very slight and practically negligible in a structure coming within the usual tolerances for annular bearings made up as self-contained handling units.

In the drawings accompanying this speciication two illustrative embodiments of the invention are shown, in which drawings:

'Fi re 1 shows my invention applied to a sel -aligning bearing, this being shown in axial section, and

Fig. 2 is a similar view of a modification in which the amount of alignment or relative tilting of the two parts is restricted.

The bearings to which this invention relates are of the so-called barrel-shaped vathe variation of the misalignment of the shaft upon which the inner ring is mounted. Accordlng to my invention, however, lateral movement of the rollers incident to the misallgnment of the shaft shifts the point or area of contact laterally of the roller, but the point of contact or path of contact with the outer race remains substantially constant.

` For the purpose of expediting the arrival at an understanding of the underlying prin- 6@ clples of this invention, reference will first be made to the example shown in Figurel which villustrates a self-aligning bearing. ln'this figure there is an inner race ring, 5, adapted to be mounted upon a shaft, in some et suitable manner, and provided onl its exter'ior with two roller grooves or raceways, 6, 1n which there are respectively mounted rows of rollers, the members of which are lndicated by the character 7. The axes of 7@ the rollers ofeach row are all located on a cone, the apex of which is situated on the axis of the bearing. The rollers are shown symmetrical around their transversal. central planes and each such plane passes thru the center of the bearing. T he posit1on of this plane in relation to the axis of the bearing is illustrated by its line of intersection, 8, with the plane of this figure. The generatrix, 9, of the roller fits, with line contact, at the bottom of the grooves, 6. The longitudinal curvature of the vrollers is in-this instance formedv on a radius equal to the radius of the path of contact of the rollers with the faces 10-10 on the outer 85 race, 11. The proportions of the arts, as in the single row bearing particuiarl described in my co-pending application erial No.y 382,267, tiled May 18th, 1920, for antifriction'bearings, are preferably such that 90 the longitudinally curved outer surface of the rollers, that is, the surfaces farthest away from engagement with the surfaces of the races 6-6 of the inner ring, coincide withl a sphere having its center located at the axis of rotation of the bearing represented by the line 12.

The lines 8--8 represent substantially 'the lines of force passing from the inner race thru the rollers to the outer race. Thel faces 10e-10, are shown as cones having coincident axes which, at the points of contact with each of the several rollers, coincide 1with tangents to the rollers at such points.

.whether in their normal position or tilted to one side or the other, roll upon substantially the same pat-h `or track upon the faces lll- 10.

On account f the symmetrical shape of the roller around its transversal central .plane and due to the fact that the force of reaction.4 from the outer race acts in radial direction alongsaid plane it follows that the roller is not subject to any thrust pressure, as is the case in known designs of similar bearings, in which the rollers are conical in shape. There is, however, a certain tendency of skewing, which tendency, however, is counteracted by the fact that the rollers are guided by flanges 13-13 and 14.

While preferably there is a theoretical point contact' between the roller and the outer raceway, the presence of a point contact or the extensionv of the area of contact longitudinally of the roller is ydependent largely upon ythe equality of the radii of the rollercurvature and the circular path upon which the" rollers track upon the outer raceway and upon the amount of vdeformation of the contacting surfaces under load. In Figure 2, the rollers, 20, are generated by the rotation of a curve, 21,'having a radius considerably greater than the radius of the race track, 22, on the outer ring, 23, preferably about four times as great, about the axis, 24, of the roller. In this form, as in the one'described in connection withFig. 1,

of the rollers is generated by rotating about the axis of the roller, a. curved line of considerably greater radius of curvature than the radius of curvature of the circular conical surface comprising the roller paths on the outer race member, is claimed in my copending application, Serial No. 525,331 for roller bearings, herewith. o

I claim as my invention:

1. In a roller bearing, the combination with an outer member having a raceway formed as two hollow cones set base t0 base, of a pair of rows of rollers running upon the said raceway and formed with longitudinally curved surfaces lying on a sphere having its center on the axis of the cones at the plane of the bases thereof, and an inner member provided with concave grooves forming races for said rollers.

2. In a roller bearing, the combination with an outer member having a raceway formed as two hollow cones set ,base to base, of a pair of rows of rollers running upon the said raceway and formed with longitudinall curved surfaces lying on a 'sphere havlng its center on the axis of the cones at t-he plane of the bases thereof, and an inner member provided with concave grooves forming races for said rollers the radius of the curvature of each groove corresponding substantially to the radius of the said groove.

3. In amanti-friction bearing, the combina-tion with No -rows of barre1-shaped rollers,of an inner member provided with a pair of concave grooves for said rollers, and an outer member having a pair ofhollow conical roller engaging surfaces, the parts being so proportioned and located in such positions that the roller engagingface of the outer member lies in a line substantially tangential to each roller at the point of engagement between such roller and said face.

4. In an anti-friction bearing, the combination with two rows of barrelshaped rollers, aninner member provided with a pair of concave grooves for said rollers and adapted to hold the same with their outer curved faces lying on a sphereland an outer member having a air of hollow conical roller engaging sur aces, the parts being so proportioned and located in such positions that the roller engaging face ofthe outer member lies in a line substantially tangential to each roller at the point of engagement between such roller and said face.

5. In a roller bearing, the combination with an outer member having a hollow conical raceway, of an inner member provided with ya concave groove, and a row of rollers mounted in said groove, said rollers being longitudinally curved, the generatrix whereof is a curve of substantially the same radius filed contemporaneously' as that of the path traversed by the rollers upon the said conical surface. l

6. In a roller bearing, the combination with an outer member having a pair of hol- 5 low conical raceways, of an inner member provided with a pair of concave grooves, a

row of rollers mounted in each said groove,

said rollers being longitudinally curved, the generatrix whereof is a curve of substantially the same radius as that of the path traversed 10 by the rollers upon the said conical surfaces.

In testimony whereof, I have aflixed my signature hereto.

OSCAR RAGNAR WIKANDER. 

